


Hanging Teru Teru Bozu Upside Down

by neferlemon



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: M/M, somewhat fantasy?, teru teru bozu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 15:34:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9498614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neferlemon/pseuds/neferlemon
Summary: "Rain Man" Kim Myungsoo has never had any friends since school because he brings rain everywhere he goes. He hates rain, until he meets "Sunshine Guy" Lee Sungyeol.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Teru teru bozu: a handmade doll the Japanese hang on their window to pray for a good weather  
> Rain man: a man who brings rain wherever he goes  
> Sunshine guy: a man who brings sunshine wherever he goes
> 
>  
> 
> Just something I quickly whip because it's raining since morning here.

 

 

 

It is pouring when he gets ready for his class. It's only a light shower, so Myungsoo puts his umbrella inside the bag and pulls up his hoodie.

In the corner of the street, he pauses. In the windowsill of the house number 12, a teru teru bozu is hung upside down. It is the first time he sees such thing on this house. Myungsoo wonders why the people in this house would need some rain.

Well, Myungsoo thought. Lucky for them he lives in this neighborhood.  
-

 

 

Myungsoo can't remember how people found out that he is a rain man. What he remembers is how few and scarce sunny days are for him even back then. Every weekend, his Mom would always prepare lunchbox for picnic, but most of the time they ended up eating the box in their kitchen, the picnic cancelled because of rain.

When Moonsoo was born, Myungsoo still didn’t think that he was different, despite him developing envy toward his younger brother. Moonsoo got out of the house often, to help their mom shopping or accompany their dad jogging. He wanted to be angry, but to whom? It wasn’t like his parents ever deprived him of going out of the house. It was just every time he did, the rain would start pouring.

When he went to school, it changed. In his first day, he got five other friends, three girls and two boys. They promised to play together after school in the park. Myungsoo felt so happy to have a friend for the first time in his life and he ran to the park after putting his bag home.

It rained fifteen minutes after they started playing hide and seek.

“But it shouldn’t rain!” one of the boys said, he was the smartest among them all. “I read the weather forecast today and it shouldn’t rain!”

“You can’t read weather forecast,” one of the girl said.

“Yes, I can!” the boy argued. “Go ask your father if you don’t believe me!”

It happened again for several times. By that time all the kids have known how to read weather forecast, so they can conclude that the rain is indeed weird.

One day, Myungsoo was down with cold and he couldn’t join them in the park. That afternoon, there wasn’t even a single cloud in the sky, it was only a vast blue as far as you can see.

The kids never invited Myungsoo to the park again.

-

 

When he reached junior high school, he gave up trying to make friends. Instead, he tried to date, thinking that if it was love, then they shouldn’t mind about rain so much. He was wrong, of course. He dated three people during high school, but each lasted for only a month maximum.

“You’re really handsome, Myungsoo,” one of his dates said. “But I want us to go to dates in the amusement park, or have lakeside picnic, or somewhere sunny and nice, and not just stayed indoor for a whole month. Let’s not meet again.”

In high school he found a girl he sincerely loved. She had big eyes and wavy hair, and she made him laugh every time. One weekend, it was raining on the day he promised he would visit her. This time, he didn’t want to let the rain ruin his life anymore, so he put on a raincoat and went.

The road was slippery and a car slipped, went off the road to the pedestrian walk and crashed into him. When he woke up, he was in the hospital surrounded by his father, mother, and brother. It was two weeks later and the girl broke up with him, saying that it was her fault Myungsoo got into this accident.

-

 

 

In college, Myungsoo doesn’t even want to try. Friends, dates, they are all useless. He only has rain.

 

He hates it.

-

 

 

In the end of the calculus class, the students gather together to discuss an MT. Myungsoo slips out of the class, knowing full well that he isn’t part of them when a hand prevents him from doing so.

“Hey, Kim Myungsoo, right? Don’t go yet, we still have to discuss things.”

The owner of the hands is a freakishly tall and thin boy.

“Let him go, Sungyeol. Myungsoo won’t join our MT. Right, Myungsoo?” a boy said, one of his high school friends. Myungsoo nods and yanks his hand away from Sungyeol, who is looking back and forth between him and his friend, frowning.

Myungsoo walks away before anything happens.

He just gets out of the building when someone touches his shoulder. Instinctively he turns around, ready to fight whoever it is looking for trouble. It is Sungyeol, but he doesn’t mean any harm, judging from the way he yelps and jumps out of his reach.

“What do you want?” he asks him.

“I’m sorry about what happened,” he says, pointing to the building with his thumb. “I don’t know my friend could be such jerks.”

“It’s fine,” Myungsoo replies. “They don’t harm me and I don’t harm them.”

“I wish you can join our MT,” he says, pouting slightly.

“It’s fine,” he repeats.

“But I want to get to know you,” Sungyeol says, before perking up so suddenly. “I know! We should hang out, the two of us!”

“What?”

“We’ll hang out this Saturday,” he makes a decision on his own. “Let’s meet up at NIT Coffee in front of the campus at 3 PM!”

“It’ll rain,” Myungsoo says.

“It won’t,” Sungyeol says back, confidently.

-

 

 Surprisingly, it really doesn’t rain on Saturday. He walks out of the house in a slight confusion. The house number 12 still has that upside down teru teru bozu today. Myungsoo curses the one who put it there.

He reaches NIT Coffee in 15 minutes. Sungyeol is already there. He stands up when Myungsoo gets inside and walks over to him, handing him an iced Americano.

“Where are we going?” Myungsoo asks, alarmed.

“Enjoying the sun,” Sungyeol answers.

“No,” Myungsoo says. “It’s better to stay indoor today. In case it rains.”

“It won’t rain,” Sungyeol says and he is always so confident when he says that, Myungsoo doesn’t have a heart to tell him the truth about him and the rain. Well, if it does start to rain, then they could just duck to the nearest building later.

But Sungyeol brings him far to the outskirt of the city and leads the way to a forest, where there is no building at all.

“Where are we going?” Myungsoo asks, suddenly doubtful because Sungyeol keeps going farther into the forest. Not that the forest here is thick or anything, but it’s still quiet and bare of other people.

“Sssh, I’ll show you something good,” Sungyeol says. There is a ray of sunshine passing through the leaves and branches, showering him as if he is truly a creature from this forest and he is about to grant Myungsoo a passage toward his hideout of something.

They have been walking for 30 minutes when they reach a clearing in the middle of the wood. It is a circle with 5 meters diameter or so. In the middle of it is a stump of tree, only half a meter high, but probably more than two meters in diameter.

“This is the biggest tree in this forest,” he says. “Or it used to be, until a thunder burned it fifty years ago during a storm. Thankfully the rain stopped the fire from spreading out, but this old tree couldn’t be saved.

“How do you know?”

“My grandfather told me,” Sungyeol shrugs. “He is the one who showed me this place too. Now he is too old to climb here, so he gives the knowledge to me. Look, Myungsoo, you should try laying down here.”

Sungyeol pulls him onto the stump. It is, weirdly, formed a slight crate on the surface, making it a perfect spot to lie down. It fits both of them like a bed and Myungsoo swears he can sleep right there right that moment. The sun shines down softly on them, like a blanket, and the rustle of the leaves is like a lullaby.

“This is a great place,” Myungsoo closes his eyes. Being able to feel the warmth of the sun on his skin is like a blessing for him.

“Glad you like it,” Sungyeol says, lying himself next to him. “Hey, Myungsoo. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why do the kids hate you? You seem like a great guy.”

“I’m a rain man,” Myungsoo tells him, not wanting to waste time beating around the bush. “People hate being rained on and I bring rain wherever I go.”

“Wow,” Sungyeol says. He doesn’t exactly look surprised, he looks – actually – _thrilled_.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but whenever someone takes me to go out, it will rain and our plan will be cancelled. You don’t know how grateful I am that it isn’t the case today.”

“No, I believe you,” Sungyeol says quickly. “Because I am like that too. This sunshine, this not raining thing, this is my doing.”

Myungsoo frowns. Is that how he sounds like when he told Sungyeol about him earlier? He sounds absolutely nuts. Is Sungyeol mocking him right now?

“No, really,” Sungyeol stops his train of thought. “I’m not mocking you. I’m just… glad, I think, and excited to meet you. I am a sunshine guy, people told me. Whenever they take me to go out, it is almost a guarantee that the day will be sunny. My father keeps taking to play golf with his colleague and my mother to her hot spring trips. Sometimes, people from other classes in my school will ask me to join their trip just to prevent rain. Whenever there is school festival or sports day, the teacher will make sure I attend to avoid raining. It is good to help people, but sometimes I feel like they treat me like a heating tool instead of person.”

Myungsoo stays silent.

“Can you believe that in my 20 years of existence, I only experience rain a handful of time?”

Myungsoo himself experiences the same thing, except it is the opposite.

“Yeah,” he says. “I believe you. I just can’t believe that we can coincidentally find each other like this.”

“I know, right?” Sungyeol adds. “It’s as if we’re made for each other.”

That is quite a romantic comment. He side eyes his companion, who is lying with his eyes closed. He is quite gorgeous, Myungsoo thinks. He fits this forest really well.

 

He isn’t sure he falls asleep or not, but when he opens his eyes, he is lying on his side, face to face with Sungyeol, who has both his eyes closed as well. His heart pounds harder seeing his face up close, but his attention is quickly averted to the thing that has woke him up: drops of water falling from the sky.

“Shit!” he cursed. Today is going so well, and Sungyeol is even with him – a sunshine guy! But of course Myungsoo’s rain man curse will never stop following him. Sungyeol’s eyes flutter open when a droplet falls on his face.

“What is this?” he asks, touching the drop with his fingertips. “Is this rain?”

“Yes,” Myungsoo says, feeling sorry. “Sorry, it seems like my rain has come. We need to go home.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would we go home? It’s raining!” Sungyeol sits down and he looks so joyful, smiling with pink gum showing and eyes twinkling. “My last rain was two years ago!”

The rain is getting heavier and as much as Sungyeol loves rain, it won’t do for them to stay in here and catch a cold. He tells Sungyeol this and Sungyeol reluctantly agrees, but Myungsoo sees his smile falters and his eyes droops and he decides that suddenly he doesn’t like seeing him like that.

“Fine,” he says. Sungyeol whips his head so fast toward him. “We can stay. But using this.”

As a rain man, Myungsoo knows that he should bring either raincoat or umbrella all the time. He pulls out a transparent raincoat from his bag and lays it over both of them. Thankfully, the coat is big enough to cover both of them, despite it is a little bit tight and they have to press closer to each other.

“This is great,” Sungyeol whispers in awe. “I know a rain man is this dependable.”

“What’s so great of this? It’s cold and wet, and we can’t go everywhere,” he grumbles.

“Really? You’re warm, though. And your raincoat keeps us dry. And I don’t really want to go anywhere. The rain makes this place more comfortable.”

Myungsoo tries not to think too much of Sungyeol’s compliment, but he is right. It’s warm here. He snuggles closer to the gummy boy, and the other puts his arms around his waist, and yeah, if you put it like this, then the rain isn’t that much bad.

-

 

The rain stops two hours later. It is almost dusk, but the sky is clear now. It is damp and cold in the forest, so they keep close to each other as they walk out of it and into the road.

“Where do you live?” Myungsoo asks. “Let me walk you home.”

“I’m not a girl,” Sungyeol laughs but he doesn’t refuse. Turns out, his house is only a block away from Myungsoo’s, it’s the house number 12 in the corner.

“This is my grandfather’s house,” he says when Myungsoo asks him about it. “I only start living here this year, when I am accepted in the college. My parent’s house is in Yongin. But it’s really great to know you live nearby. Next time I’ll introduce you to my grandfather!”

“Why do you hang the teru teru bozu upside down?” he asks him before he leaves, pointing at the doll in the windowsill.

“Because I wish for rain, obviously,” he says. “But I’ll take them down from today. I have you already,” he says and he leans forward to kiss Myungsoo’s lips. It’s more like a peck, and it’s chaste and ends too quickly, but Myungsoo still flushes red and feels warm all over.

“See you tomorrow?” he asks Myungsoo. “We can go to the college together.”

“Sure,” Myungsoo says. “And Sungyeol?”

“Yes?”

This time Myungsoo leans forward and kisses him, long and romantic.

-

 

Sungyeol hasn’t taken down the upside down teru teru bozu when Myungsoo picks him up the next morning. Instead, he puts another one, this one is hung normally. The two of them smile to each other and every time the wind is blowing, they’ll touch each other.

The upside down teru teru bozu is labeled M, and the other is labeled S. According to Myungsoo, they look so good together.

After all, rain and sunshine make a rainbow, don’t they?

 

 

 

 


End file.
